DC Comics reviews 7/13/21 – Infinite Frontier #2, Rorschach #10

The Joker #5

Matthew Rosenberg and James Tynion IV craft this flashback story looking at Joker’s first night at Arkham Asylum. And since he knows Joker is too dangerous to trust, Capt. James Gordon is set to spend the night to make sure nothing crazy happens.

This story does a nice job showing that Gordon’s obsession with The Joker started long before he crippled Barbara.

It does feel like needlessly reminding readers Gordon was a lousy husband to his first wife. Given the title, Tynion probably should spend more time on Gordon’s second wife, Sarah Essen, that Joker killed. That gripe aside, Rosenberg and Tynion set up some interesting potential subplots.

Francesco Francavilla’s artwork is solid especially in transitions from a calm Joker to one deliberately trying to get under Gordon’s skin.

Tynion and co-writer Sam Johns don’t have a lot of room to navigate their Punchline secondary story. The secondary stories rarely feel like they get much time to advance the story. Sweeney Boo’s art is probably too cheery, but it’s too good to complain about.

This issue doesn’t significantly advance the main Joker/Gordon manhunt story, but it provides better context for their next confrontation. It’s not an essential read, but worth it for fans of that event as well.

Rating: 7 out of 10